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Stormwater from Kc to the Sea

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Stormwater from Kc to the Sea stormwater from kc to the sea A 5-day Workshop for Students in the 4th - 6th Grades teacher’s guide contents introduction 1 day one : It’s an Event 3 learning objectives 4 background 5 procedure 6 discussion questions 7 day two : Dangerous Travel 13 learning objectives 14 background 15 procedure 16 discussion questions 19 day three : Cleaning up (our) Water Act 21 learning objectives 22 background 23 procedure 26 discussion questions 27 day four : Those Traveling Stormwater Teams 29 learning objectives 30 background 31 procedure 32 discussion questions 33 day five : Walking the Talk 35 learning objectives 36 background 37 procedure 38 discussion questions 39 vocabulary 40 stormwater ~ from kc to the sea introduction The Water Services Department of Kansas City, Missouri believes good water quality is everybody’s business. The agency is providing this curriculum for students, and ultimately their parents and the community, to become aware of one aspect of our City’s water – the treatment of stormwater. This guide addresses that topic and is aligned with Missouri standards for students in the 4th through 6th grades. Through five interactive and fun days, students will learn how precipitation moves through the watershed and how to measure rainfall amounts; they will learn to demonstrate how water becomes polluted and determine how best management practices (BMPs) improve the quality and quantity of our water; they will also locate current BMPs in their community, design the ideal street, and create a public service announcement, brochure or poster that persuades people to follow BMPs in their treatment of this valuable resource. This knowledge will eventually be enhanced by a field trip to the Water Services Department at 4800 E. 63rd Street, where students will experience many of the practices put into action. For more information, call: Terry Leeds 816.513.0528 Bon Marie Gardner 816.513.0354 Mark Govea 816.513.0523 1 day one: stormwater ~ from kc to the sea It’s an Event! Understanding Kansas City’s rain and its journey to the watershed Students will understand what the watershed is by quickly and visually “exploring” the slope of the school grounds and figuring out where water goes on the property. Using Kansas City’s annual rainfall of 38.2 inches, they will discover how much water accumulates on impervious surfaces during events. They will judge whether measurements and computation of quantities seem reasonable – but they might be surprised. They will then “follow” the stormwater to the watershed, which will help them compare amounts/measurements. SKILLS Mathematics Analytical Geography Inquiry 3 Materials Required • Yardstick or tape measure 50 • Calculators TEACHING TIME IN MINS. • Gallon bucket • Topographical map of area Learning Objectives Students will be able to: • Relate the type of landform/water body to the process by which it was formed • Compare amounts/measurements • Judge whether measurements and computation of quantities are reasonable • Use quantitative and qualitative data as support for reasonable explanations • Classify major bodies of surface water (e.g., rivers, lakes, oceans, glaciers) as fresh or salt water, flowing or stationary, large or small, solid or liquid, surface or groundwater • Describe and trace the path of water as it cycles through the hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere (i.e., the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, surface runoff/ groundwater flow) • Explain how major bodies of water are important natural resources for human activity(e.g., food, recreation, habitat, irrigation, solvent, transportation) • Identify physical changes in common objects (e.g., rocks, minerals, wood, water, steel wool, plants) and describe the processes that caused the change (e.g., weathering, erosion, cutting, dissolving) Vocabulary impervious, surface water, groundwater, aquifer, recharge, volume, runoff, Low Impact Development, stormwater, watershed, erosion, flowing, stationary Background A watershed is the land area from which water drains into a single body of water, such as a stream, river, or ocean. The two largest watersheds in the United States are the Pacific Ocean Watershed and the Atlantic Ocean Watershed, separated by the Continental Divide within the Rocky Mountains. A watershed can just be the water draining into a puddle in the back yard or a puddle in a parking lot, but small watersheds like this usually drain into larger ones. For example, when it rains, all of the water from a small watershed may travel to a local creek. That creek will flow into a larger stream, like Brush Creek, which in turn collects water from other creeks to form an even larger one. Brush Creek flows into the Blue River, which then deposits water into the Missouri River. Finally, it ends up in the ocean.* In the Kansas City region, all runoff eventually drains into the Missouri River, the world’s 15th longest river. The Missouri River watershed drains one-sixth of the water in the United States, from the mountains of western Montana to its connection with the Mississippi River in St. Louis, MO. In downtown Kansas City, Kansas, the Kansas River flows into the Missouri River at Kaw Point. The Kansas River watershed (page 8) is part of the larger Missouri River Watershed and drains about one-third of the state of Kansas. *Much of the time, all this is happening underground where you can’t even see it. It will be important for students to first realize that slope is important (and it might be slightly hard to see as well). 5 Procedure Take a brief tour of the school grounds. Have impervious on the pavement. Tell them that in a students look for any general slope of the year, in Kansas with our average 38.2 inches of ground. Have them discuss what they think rainfall, about 213 gallons of water will fall in this generally happens to water when it hits the very spot. various locations of the school grounds. If it’s in planted spaces, and they respond that most Have them imagine how much water it would water will be soaked up, tell them that this be if they poured about 213 gallon jugs of water “infiltration” ends up traveling through the soil right in that spot. Have them “walk off” how very slowly but does come back to the surface many gallons that would be by measuring a of the earth downslope, helping to replenish foot against the bottom of the gallon jug and the water in the nearest body of water, whether then have that person 213 steps away from it’s a stream, lake, pond, wetland, etc. If they the group, preferably going in the direction of aren’t familiar with the water cycle, you may the water shed. Each team should follow the have to include that in this lesson. (See figure water as far (and safely) as possible. Back in the 5) Ask them where the water that falls on the classroom, students use watershed maps to school roof goes. Have them locate downspouts determine where the water flows from their school. and see where that water goes. See if there is a storm drain on or near the property and ask Remind them that thinking about watersheds them what it is for and where it goes. Explain that helps remind us that our actions can impact — storm drains are the solution to water not having for better or for worse — all of the streams and a place to go from impervious parking lots and rivers in our region. That is what we will see with roads so that they don’t flood. At this point the next lesson. introduce them to the terms impervious and pervious. Ask them where they saw examples of each type of surface. The Math Calculate the area in square feet. Then, divide students into pervious and 3’ x 3’ = 9 square feet impervious teams. Have them “stake out” one Convert KC average rainfall (38.2”) to feet: square yard – use chalk on the impervious area; 38 ÷ 12 = 3.16 cubic feet rainfall per year string (that students can stabilize by standing on each corner of it) on the pervious. They Cubic foot of rain = 7.5 gal of water (approx.) will measure a square yard and then take one 7.5 x 3.16 x 9 = 213.3 gallons of water that falls on one square yard per year gallon of water and pour it on the measured surface, the pervious on planted areas and the Discussion Questions 1. What do we mean by water cycle? 2. What is the role of the land on water movement? 3. How did the slope of the surface impact where the water flowed? 4. Is the water around here salt or fresh water? Where do you find salt water? 5. Is the water flowing or stationary? 6. Why is the Missouri River so important to us? 7. What does erosion mean? Do you see any examples of erosion here? 8. What is the difference between pervious and impervious? 9. Are there any examples of pervious pavement at our school? 10. Are there some places where the water could be better directed? 11. How many gallons would fall during each rain event on the square yard? 12. What would happen if your area had fluids like oil from cars? 13. If you selected an area with vegetation, what happened to the water when it landed? 14. From which surface would you rather drink the water? 7 Platte County Platte River Fishing River Bear Creek Clay County Salt Creek Three Mile Creek Rush Creek Five Mile Creek Shoal Creek Dry Creek Stranger Creek Sibley Creek Fire Prairie Creek Wolf Creek Mill Creek Leavenworth County Wyandotte County Turkey Creek Mill Creek Little Blue River Blue River Kill Creek Jackson County Captain Cedar Creek Creek FIGURE 1 Kansas City Area Watershed Map This map illustrates the region’s important watersheds.
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